The Mossad spy network leader arrested by Lebanese authorities has reportedly surveyed the Kfar Sousa neighborhood in Damascus a few months before Hizbullah Commander Imad Mughniyeh was assassinated by a car bomb last February.

The daily As-Safir, which carried the report on Monday, identified the spy leader as Ali Jarrah. It said the other suspect arrested was his brother, Youssef.

As-Safir said investigation with Ali Jarrah revealed that the Israeli Mossad secret agency had tasked him with surveying the Damascus neighborhood of Kfar Sousa a few months before Mughniyeh's killing.

It said a question mark is raised in this regard: Did Jarrah know why the survey was conducted? Or was he ordered to just monitor the area? And did he play a role in the summer 2006 war between Israel and Hizbullah?

The Lebanese army on Saturday said it has arrested two people in the Bekaa Valley linked to an Israeli espionage network.

A senior Palestinian official in the Bekaa told As Safir that Ali Jarrah has, since he quit Fatah-Uprising and joined Ahmed Jibril's Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command, obtained a special military pass that allowed him to enter the Syrian-Lebanese border without being searched.

This pass was automatically renewed for many years up to his recent arrest.

The Palestinian source added that Jarrah moved freely in Damascus and frequently visited the homes of Palestinian officials and Palestinian centers.

During the July 2006 Hizbullah-Israeli war, Jarrah was seen with a video camera moving at some sensitive areas that included relief centers known to be connected to parties supporting Hizbullah, As Safir reported.

"Was he pinpointing security targets at the Bekaa?" the daily wondered.

The investigation is attempting to uncover whether the video camera fixed inside his four-wheel drive was satellite-connected to Israel, as was his ever working GPS system in his vehicle.

As-Safir wondered whether the arrest of this network will ultimately lead to uncovering other networks in the country.

Meanwhile, security sources connected to the investigation told the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat that the investigation is confidential.

The sources stressed that the suspect has confessed to working for the Mossad, that he has monitored certain political party centers and the movements of certain party leaders for Israel.

They said that Jarrah, who is in his fifties, was earlier arrested in Damascus by elements of Syrian State Security, a branch of Syrian Intelligence and charged with being a member of the Fatah-Intifada, or Uprising, a group headed by Abu Moussa.

In Syria, Jarrah was questioned for days concerning his relationship to Abu Khaled al-Emleh, who was earlier fired by Abu-Moussa following escape of Fatah al-Islam leader Shaker Abssi who is wanted in Lebanon for his role in the 2007 fighting at the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp.

Emleh was accused then of helping Abssi in facilitating his control over some of the Fatah-Intifada centers at the camp. Emleh was put under house arrest.

Sources added that a high-level political figure from the Bekaa intervened with the Syrians to release Jarrah who was charged by the Syrians of having links to Emleh since 20 years.

Jarrah was subject to intensive interrogation by Syrian authorities in Damascus that went beyond his connection to Emleh to include his said connection to tens of Fatah-Intifada members. They said that Syrian authorities later released him.

Jarrah later returned to his hometown of al-Marj in the western Bekaa and continued with his normal life up to his disappearance a month ago while on his way from the Bekaa to Beirut.

Sources in his hometown refused to comment on news that a certain political party had placed Jarrah under their intense watch and later arrested him under suspicion of spying for Israel. Meanwhile, Jarrah's family sought the help of Lebanese police to locate him.

Sources following the investigation revealed that the political party that had arrested Jarrah soon delivered him to Lebanese Army Intelligence.

Residents of al-Marj stated that an army unit last Oct. 25 raided his home, confiscated his four wheel drive vehicle and arrested his brother. Residents said that the army also searched his uncle's home without taking any further action.

A Mossad spy ring which has been active in Lebanon since the 1980s has been uncovered by the Lebanese Army, and the leader and his associate arrested, the Lebanese newspaper A-Safir reported on Saturday.

According to the report, Lebanese security officials told the paper that the spies worked to pass information to the Mossad about a range of Lebanese activities, both through pictures of military and civilian installations, and through spoken contact.

The sources added that advanced communication equipment and cameras were captured with the two, whose names were not made public.

In a statement released by the the Lebanese army and quoted in the report, both members of the spy ring confessed to gathering information about politicians and their parties.

The paper also reported that in addition to collecting information about Lebanese activities, the spies noted Syrian activities in the country.

Many people have previously been arrested in Lebanon on suspicion of spying for Israel. Lebanon considers itself at war with Israel and bans its citizens from having any contact with the Jewish state.

The army did not name the parties or politicians but said the two were captured in the eastern Bekaa Valley bordering Syria and where Hizbullah is known to be active.

Many officials pass through the eastern Bekaa Valley on their way to Syria.

A Hizbullah official refused to comment on the army statement.

Hizbullah's top military commander Imad Mughniyeh was killed in a car bomb in the Syrian capital of Damascus in February. Hizbullah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah blamed Israel for the attack and promised to take revenge.

In June, a Lebanese court indicted a retired Lebanese police officer and a Palestinian for allegedly working with Israeli intelligence to assassinate Jihad Jibril, the son of the leader of Syria-based Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command. Jibril was killed in a 2002 bombing in Beirut.

The retired Lebanese police officer, Mahmoud Kassem Rafeh, is facing death sentences in two other cases including a 2003 explosion in Beirut that killed Hizbullah official Ali Hussein Saleh.

In 2006, the Lebanese army arrested Rafeh, 60, on suspicion of killing two Lebanese brothers who were members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group.

In 2004, a Tunisian woman of Palestinian origin and four accomplices were indicted on charges of plotting with Israel to assassinate Nasrallah.

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The Lebanese citizen who was recently arrested for allegedly spying on behalf of Israel has been identified as Ali Jarrah, the Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar reported on Monday.

Jarrah is suspected of monitoring the movements of senior Hezbollah officials, according to the report.

The newspaper also said that he was arrested in July by Hezbollah, before being transferred to the custody of the Beirut authorities.

He was detained over the summer in the southern Beirut neighborhood of Dahia, long considered a Hezbollah stronghold, according to the report.

The Lebanese army had reported Sunday that security officials had detained Jarrah and one other alleged spy suspected of working for the Mossad since the 1980s.

The terse military statement did not name the two detainees or say when they were captured, but did mention that they had advanced communication equipment and cameras.

According to the Al-Akhbar report on Monday, Jarrah was first arrested by Hezbollah in what was a culmination of months of surveillance efforts by the Shi'ite terrorist organization.

On the morning of his arrest, he set out for Beirut from his home in the Beka'a village of Al-Marj in a Honda Accord registered under his name.

After he failed to return home, his relatives notified the Lebanese security services. Investigators subsequently pinpointed the location where his cellular phone was last detected - near the Shatila refugee camp adjacent to Beirut.

Authorities believed that Jarrah's disappearance was the result of inter-factional Palestinian strife. Jarrah was a member of Fatah Intifada, a faction of Fatah that is backed by Syria. Investigators released a photograph of Jarrah, which appears in Monday morning's Al Akhbar, while appealing for the public's help in accounting for his whereabouts. Hezbollah subsequently turned him into authorities.

Sources who are well-versed in the details of the investigation say that Jarrah confessed to being recruited by Israeli intelligence in the mid-1980s to gather information about Palestinian organizations active in Lebanon. In recent years he started to surveil senior figures in Hezbollah.

According to Jarrah's statements to police, his brother Yusef was also arrested for aiding him in espionage, the newspaper reported. Investigators impounded a Pajero jeep parked in front of Jarrah's home. The vehicle was said to be outfitted with audio and visual surveillance equipment used by the two brothers.

Thus far, no evidence has been uncovered which would suggest the two men were involved in sabotage or bombing activities in addition to their intelligence gathering, the newspaper reported.

Lebanon arrests cell suspected of working for Israel's Mossad since 1980s By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent and The Associated Press

Lebanon's military intelligence has captured two members of a spy network suspected of working for the Mossad since the 1980s, according to an army statement. The military also said the men were involved in intelligence gathering ahead of the assassination of Hezbollah's second-in-command, Imad Mughniyeh.

The two suspects have confessed to gathering information on the movements of local politicians, the Lebanese army said on Saturday.

The terse military statement did not name the two detainees or say when they were captured, but did mention that they had advanced communication equipment and cameras.

If the report is accurate, the existence of high-tech equipment could indicate the group was a cell on a specific and predefined intelligence gathering data, as opposed to other so-called spy rings which Israeli intelligence reportedly uses to recover random pieces of intelligence.

Other Lebanese media reported that authorities are investigating a possible link between the ring and the assassination of Mughniyeh, who was killed in a car bombing last February in Damascus. The Lebanese investigation also revealed that the cell has been monitoring sensitive security areas in Damascus, reports said.

Some of the Lebanese army's past statements regarding covert Israeli activities in Lebanon have turned out to be reliable.

Lebanon's leading daily newspaper As-Safir reported on Saturday that the Lebanese army arrested the cell's leader in the western Bekaa valley, near Lebanon's border with Syria, after having monitored him for some time. While the sources refused to elaborate, residents of the western Bekaa Valley town where the arrest took place told As-Safir that security forces raided the suspect's home and confiscated his vehicle, which was fitted with a camera capable of taking clear pictures of license plates and faces.

The eyewitnesses told As-Safir that the man didn't appear to have a real job and that he would sometimes park his vehicle on the international highway between the Bekaa town of Shtaura and the Masnaa border crossing.

According to the report, sources close to the investigation said the suspect was recruited by the Mossad in the 1980s. They added that documents seized from the suspect's house and vehicle proved he was using high-tech equipment to contact the Israelis.

The same sources said security forces have also arrested a relative of the man who confessed to monitoring the moves of people and convoys, and observing sensitive sites, particularly in the central Bekaa valley.

The newspaper said the network had been entrusted with monitoring several security spots, including Lebanese and Syrian army outposts and Palestinian bases in the Bekaa valley. In the past few years concentrated on Hezbollah.

Lebanese military: We nabbed two Mossad operatives By Haaretz Correspondents and AP , By Yossi Melman and Yoav Stern

Lebanon's military intelligence has captured two members of a spy network suspected of working for the Mossad since the 1980s, according to an army statement. The military also said the men were involved in intelligence gathering ahead of the assassination of Hezbollah's second in command, Imad Mughniyeh.

The two suspects have confessed to gathering information on the movements of local politicians, the Lebanese army said yesterday. Advertisement

The terse military statement did not name the two detainees or say when they were captured, but did mention that they had advanced communication equipment and cameras.

If the report is accurate, the existence of high-tech equipment could indicate the group was a cell on a specific and predefined intelligence gathering data, as opposed to other so-called spy rings which Israeli intelligence reportedly uses to recover random pieces of intelligence.

Other Lebanese media reported that authorities are investigating a possible link between the ring and the assassination of Mughniyeh, who was killed in a car bombing last February in Damascus. The Lebanese investigation also revealed that the cell has been monitoring sensitive security areas in Damascus, reports said.

Some of the Lebanese army's past statements regarding covert Israeli activities in Lebanon have turned out to be reliable.

Lebanon's leading daily newspaper As-Safir reported yesterday that the Lebanese army arrested the cell's leader in the western Bekaa valley, near Lebanon's border with Syria, after having monitored him for some time. While the sources refused to elaborate, citizens of the western Bekaa Valley town where the arrest took place told As-Safir that security forces raided the suspect's home and confiscated his vehicle, which was fitted with a camera capable of taking clear pictures of license plates and faces.

The eyewitnesses told As-Safir that the man didn't have a real job and that he would sometimes park his vehicle on the international highway between the Bekaa town of Shtaura and the Masnaa border crossing.

According to the report, sources close to the investigation said the suspect was recruited by the Mossad in the 1980s. They added that documents seized from the suspect's house and vehicle proved he was using high-tech equipment to contact the Israelis.

The same sources said security forces have also arrested a relative of the man who confessed to monitoring the moves of people and convoys, and observing sensitive sites, particularly in the central Bekaa valley.

The newspaper said the network had been entrusted with monitoring several security spots, including Lebanese and Syrian army outposts and Palestinian bases in the Bekaa valley. In the past few years concentrated on Hezbollah.

It seems that Hizbullah exposed ‘Israeli spies’ for deterrence purposes

Published: 11.02.08, 11:44 / Israel Opinion

It is difficult to gauge the credibility of the Lebanese army’s announcement regarding the “two Israeli spies” it exposed. The Israeli government and intelligence community, with the exception of a few anomalies, do not tend to confirm or deny this kind of information, irrespective of whether it is completely false or accurate. This policy is in effect not only vis-à-vis Lebanon, but also in relation to any other country – including states that maintain diplomatic ties with Israel.

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The reason for this is simple: Any kind of response on our part merely serves to assist enemy states and their internal security and counter-espionage apparatuses. We should keep in mind that these apparatuses, even when they make public statements regarding an uncovered spy ring, are feeling in the dark in most cases. They know that in a significant part of the cases the “confessions” they got out of suspects are not the truth, but rather, were only aimed at placating the interrogators and ending the torture. These apparatuses are very interested in finding out the truth and gathering evidence that would make it easier to secure convictions at court.

On the other hand, Israel’s intelligence community, like its global counterparts, has no interest in providing information that would enable its rivals to make their efforts more efficient, and in cases where real spies have been captured, to find out who their true masters are. It should be noted that in the spy world field agents and spies themselves are often unaware of their true masters and real objectives. Those who dispatch agents to gather information make sure to conceal their own identity.

Lebanon is an espionage hub that is of interest to almost all global intelligence agencies, including Arab and Muslim countries. You can never know who sent the spy, whether he is even a spy, and for what purpose. The exceptions where the State of Israel breaks its silence are humanitarian cases where it’s completely clear that the captured “spy” is an innocent civilian detained only because he is Israeli or has some kind of connection to Israel. One such case happened in Lebanon a year ago, with the Beirut arrest of Daniel Sharon, who held an Israeli passport and whose family resides in Israel. He entered Lebanon on a German passport and was detained in the framework of a probe into the murder of a Lebanese policeman. At the time, Israel officially announced that Sharon has no connection to its government arms. Ultimately, the German government intervened and he was released.

Hizbullah is nervous

However, one thing can be ascertained in the wake of the Lebanese army’s announcement regarding the spies: It is completely clear that Hizbullah is nervous. The destruction of the group’s long-range rockets by the Israeli Air Force within 39 minutes in the Second Lebanon War, the raid in Baalbek, and other operations made it clear to Hizbullah’s leadership, headed by the Iranians, that the organization has been infiltrated by Israel’s intelligence community.

Immediately after the war, Nasrallah ordered a thorough investigation. The probe, which was undertaken with the assistance of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, revealed severe flaws in Hizbullah’s information security. Many people were dismissed and Hizbullah, with Iranian assistance, reorganized its information security systems.

We can assume, with almost complete certainty, that Hizbullah’s internal security apparatus, rather than the Lebanese army, “exposed the spies.” The Lebanese army is the official body in charge of internal security affairs, and Hizbullah handed over to it the handling of the matter as not to appear to be setting up a state within a state.

The fact that the statement referred to people who operated in the Beqaa Valley area, Hizbullah’s stronghold, indicates that the Shiite group is behind the revelation. Hizbullah has an interest in issuing the announcement in order to deter potential collaborators and showcase achievements. Presenting Israel as the master of the “spies” merely serves these objectives. In any case, close examination of the details provided by the Lebanese army raises serious doubts as to whether the suspects are indeed spies, and the motives for committing the acts attributed to them.

A-Safir: Man arrested on suspicion of employing network of agents working with Israeli intelligence to map out sensitive locations in Lebanon, Syria – including Damascus neighborhood in which Hizbullah leader Mugniyah was killed

Roee Nahmias Published: 11.01.08, 11:32 / Israel News

The Lebanese army has uncovered an espionage ring operated by Israel for many years, the country's a-Safir daily news reported. The report said it was the second such ring discovered in two years. The other alleged spy network was exposed in 2006.

The daily reported that Lebanese intelligence began gathering information on the suspected spies after Did Israel Do It? the Second Lebanon War, in an attempt to expose agents collaborating with Israeli intelligence in different areas of the country. The information led to the arrest of the main suspect in the case, A.G.

The alleged spy is a resident of one of the country's western Beqaa Valley villages. Since the '80s he has been known for his political relations with various Palestinian organizations, which allowed him diplomatic freedom of movement within Lebanon. According to the allegations, he has been collaborating with Israel since that time.

A.G's home was searched, and witnesses reported that security officials broke into his apartment and confiscated his vehicle. Security forces reported after searching the car that a highly advanced camera able to photograph minute details was found within.

Witnesses said the man had been in contact with a number of agents, and that his missions included driving through roadways connecting Lebanon with Syria, occasionally stopping to photograph sensitive areas.

Sources familiar with the case told the paper that one of the man's family members has also been detained, and admitted to collaborating with Israeli intelligence agents. He said he had been charged with a number of reconnaissance tasks including roadways, convoys, and military bases.

During the interrogation the main suspect admitted to have enlisted a number of agents and documents confiscated from his home testify to his involvement in the ring, as well as his use of high-tech means to keep in touch with Israeli operators, the report added.

Sources said the network has been operating for over 20 years, and was responsible for mapping out the Beqaa Valley, including Syrian military bases and Palestinian sites. Recently, a-Safir reported, the spies have been pursuing Hizbullah operatives and outposts.

The ring was said to have operated in Syria as well, where it is suspected to have mapped out areas in Damascus such as Kfar Sousa, the secure neighborhood in which Hizbullah leader Imad Mugniyah was killed in February by a car bomb.

Investigators are currently attempting to link the espionage ring to Mugniyah's murder, as well as to divine its function in the transfer of information to Israel, the report said.